When Pride Fell At My Toes - Chapter 62



Only Krnovel

#62. Excessive Greed
2024.03.02.

Those who were chatting away looked at Juliana, who was sitting in a corner hugging her legs. Julia shook her head from side to side with a feeble face.

“Ah… … . I heard that someone who came with a doctor that day took her there, saying they were going to admit her. Don’t you know where it is?”

“Yeah. I went to a nearby hospital, but they said she wasn’t there. But the vice-captain said not to worry, that he confirmed that she was okay… … .”

Juliana rested her chin on her knees and sighed.

“Are you hiding it because you’re afraid the reporters will come looking for you?”

That day, it was an unusually big accident, and if Duke Enrico Michele hadn’t shot the falling light with a gun and exploded it in the air, the light would have fallen on Emilia’s head, which could have been even more dangerous.

The problem was that some people started talking about how they heard Enrico Michele shouting Emilia’s name as she fell. The rumor that the two might know each other spread quickly through the theater.

“That might be true.”

It was a situation where reporters were watching with their eyes wide open, so it was possible to avoid it, but I didn’t know that her whereabouts would become so unknown.

Vice-Chief Sylvia was busy asking everyone to keep their mouths shut and looking around the scene of the incident with the police. Juliana, who wanted to sneak over and ask if Emilia was at home and if so, where it was, just felt a burning sensation inside.

Soon, people started talking amongst themselves again, and Juliana looked at the empty seat next to her with a dejected face. Then she noticed a foot that reached the end of her gaze and slowly raised her gaze.

‘… … But that person wasn’t even on stage at that time, so why is she like that?’

Christina Firdana had been like that since the police came in today.

Juliana was out of her mind yesterday, so I don’t know what she was like, but today she looked very anxious, as if she had experienced an accident herself.

Yesterday, when the accident happened, it wasn’t the time for ‘Silphi’ to appear, so Christina was on the wing stage.

However, the dancers who went up on the stage where the accident happened didn’t tremble that much, so I was a bit curious about her overreacting. Was it because it was such a contrast to her usually calm appearance?

“Christina Pirdana?”

Christina, who was biting her fingernails like an anxious person and staring blankly into space, suddenly stopped the moment the police found her. Seeing her still as if time had stopped, the police looked around the practice room once more to find her.

“Isn’t there Christina Pirdana?”

“Christina? She’s over there… … Christina! It’s your turn.”

“She must have been really surprised. She was like that the whole time.”

The dancers’ eyes were fixed on Christina. Christina opened her eyes belatedly, looked around, and shrugged her shoulders at the attention focused on her.

“There’s no time. Come out quickly!”

The police motioned for Christina to come over quickly.

“… … Yes.”

“There’s still a long way to go before we can fully investigate. If you want to get home quickly, please cooperate quickly.”

The dancers motioned to Christina to hurry up and go. However, Christina slowly got up from her seat, looking slow and sluggish like she had never seen before.

The accident was so serious that the performance was canceled, and she was even held in the practice room all day for the police investigation, so people began to feel increasingly uncomfortable toward Christina, who was acting frustrated.

“Christina! Hurry up and go!”

“She wasn’t even on stage at that time, so why is she acting so strange?”

“That’s right! If someone saw her, they would think she was on good terms with Emilia.”

“Didn’t you apologize at the end?”

“Honestly, who would know if you were sincere? Ah, hurry up and go!”

She let out a harsh voice due to extreme stress. Some people tried to stop her, but since most people in a bad mood tend to speak loudly, only the negative comments were heard loudly.

The policeman stood in front of the door, watching Christina walk for a while, and briefly considered dragging her away, but then turned his head when he heard the sound of running from the side.

“Oh, are you here because of Christina Pirdana? They told me to hurry up and come?”

“Gasp, gasp-. No. That’s not it… … .”

“Or is that it? Who else are you calling to investigate with us?”

The policeman, who had been running in a hurry, took a moment to catch his breath and waved his hands left and right, then put his disheveled hat back on and opened his mouth.

“Take her in. Handcuff her.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Christina Pirdana.”

The policeman who had come running took out the handcuffs he had in his pocket and stepped into the practice room. Christina, who had stopped the moment she heard her name, looked pale as if all the blood had drained from her body.

People’s eyes filled with shock. Some people were so shocked that they opened their mouths while others jumped up from their seats. Among them, Juliana was the latter, and she asked the policeman passing by urgently.

“Why, why are you taking Christina in? Is she related to the accident yesterday?”

“I can’t tell you the details, but we decided to urgently detain her because there is testimony closely related to the accident. We judged that the suspect is at risk of fleeing.”

A cold silence descended. Christina unconsciously hesitated and froze at the police’s last words. The police officer waiting at the door quickly approached her and grabbed her wrists so that they could handcuff her easily. Christina,

who was handcuffed in an instant, was so shocked that she couldn’t say anything. The people who saw her with her eyes shaking and her lips quivering as if they didn’t know what to say, looked with contempt in their eyes.

“… … What the hell is going on?”

“Are you saying that Christina is related to the accident yesterday?”

“This is crazy.”

Juliana grabbed Christina’s arm as she was being dragged away.

“Is it true? You really did that?”

“… … .”

“Huh? You did that! You really mean you were after Emilia?”

The police tried to stop Juliana, who was approaching as if she was going to eat her. Christina, who had been looking down at the floor with a blank expression, suddenly raised her head and shook off the arm that was suddenly being held.

“… … I didn’t do that.”

“What?”

Her eyes were almost filled with madness, not that she had come to her senses late. Christina was so excited that she started spitting out passionate words.

“I didn’t do that. I was on the wing stage at that time. What are you going to do! Are you sure about this? Are you just going to drag someone away like this?”

Everyone was speechless at Christina’s appearance, even shaking off the police’s hands. The police approached Christina again, who was making a scene as if her personality had suddenly changed, and grabbed her thin arm. Ugh, Christina groaned at the force of the grip.

“The accomplice confessed. Shut up and follow me before I tell you everything here.”

The police’s low, threatening voice was clearly heard by everyone. Christina’s lips trembled. No, her whole body trembled. It was her last struggle, tears streaming down her face from her red, bewildered eyes.

***

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone tapping on the table echoed through the interrogation room. Christina lowered her head, looking as if she might collapse at any moment.

‘… … Why on earth did this happen?’

Inspector Reid, who was supposed to be in charge of this case earlier, simply checked her identity and then suddenly let a man in a black suit in and disappeared. She

couldn’t even raise her head because even the shadow cast over her head was threatening, and she could barely see her legs. She was strangely afraid of the man who had been tapping the table with his fingers ever since he sat down across from her. She

didn’t do anything in particular, but she felt uneasy, as if he might grab her throat if he was not careful.

“Why did you try to kill Emilia?”

“I, I didn’t do that!”

Christina raised her head, sobbing. Huh, she took a deep breath. She recognized him at a glance, but more than that, as soon as she saw his eyes, a vague sense of intimidation weighed down her whole body.

‘Why is that guy here…?’

The handsome man with the cool aura was famous for his beauty, but she didn’t even notice his appearance right now. She was just confused by the situation, and the ominous aura emanating from him made her feel as if she was suffocating.

“Don’t lose your strength. I already knew everything, so I don’t need your confession.”

“… What?”

“If you just answer the questions, I’ll spare you the death penalty.”

“T-T-Death penalty? He didn’t die, it was just an accident.”

“So, you tried to kill him, right?”

“No! I didn’t try to kill him!”

Christina, who had unknowingly let out a denial, realized her mistake and shut her eyes tightly. What should I do, should I keep insisting? The thought flashed through her mind for a moment. However, the ominous aura that seemed like it would send her to the execution grounds at any moment made her mind completely blank.

“I… I was just trying to scare you.”

In the end, she opened her eyes with a face filled with resignation and barely managed to spit out words through her tattered lips. Christina’s shoulders shook as if she was afraid to meet the man’s eyes again, her head bowed low.

“It’s true… …”

Her trembling voice continued here and there. This really wasn’t it. She had never intended to ruin her own life and cause an accident. She had only wanted to scare Emilia so she wouldn’t be able to stand on stage, but she couldn’t understand how it had turned out like this.

She had only wanted to touch a few small lights on purpose to traumatize her so she would never be able to stand on stage again, or if she was lucky, to injure Emilia so she would have a hard time doing ballet in the future. She had never intended to cause such a big accident.

But who would have thought that idiot Peter would do something bigger than I said.

‘I shouldn’t have left it to that guy.’

But who would you ask for such a favor? Since he was too obvious to do it himself and someone who wouldn’t show up even if he just hung around a little, the person who inevitably caught his eye was Peter, the janitor who had been following him around for years.

But he didn’t know that Peter would get this excited and do something.

“I heard that Peter Puretto said that you wanted to get rid of Emilia.”

But he didn’t know why the guy who acted like he was going to take out all his liver and gallbladder called his name.

“Huh? I was just muttering because I was annoyed. I didn’t really ask you to do it! I was really just trying to scare you… … Sigh.”

“Who are you to scare me? You’re worse than a rat running around Cornillo.”

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